


BS stands for babysitter

by Oienel



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Nanny, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:59:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oienel/pseuds/Oienel
Summary: Mr and Mrs Oh hire you to take care of their young son, but it’s the older one that wants to be taken care of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at summaries, and also don't expect it to be something _deep_.
> 
> I have finally broken - I've never left a space for a name because I really don't like the aesthetics of Y/N, but this time I just couldn't work around the lack of name - so I use Φ for _her_ name. I don't know, I always liked using in math equations, so here you go.

“Dance with me!” You laugh, but you obediently stand up and take a step away from the couch to join the boy in front of the TV. For once you managed to convince him to put on some music channel (in turn to usual Cartoon Network – you have no idea how that thing hasn’t fried his brains yet – but then again you grew up on the same shit), and Jihun is showing you his dashing moves. Because dancing five-year-old is _pretty_ dashing. You join him, trying to match his awesomeness, blocking your joints to make the best impression of a robot you can muster.

The fact that Jihun starts to clap and giggle tells you that you are doing pretty well. At least in the eyes of the child.

“Do the spin! Do the spin!” Jihun demands, and who are you to deny the boy.

“Ok, watch this.” You say raising your arm, allowing your forearm to hang lifelessly. You push your hanging hand slightly and make pendulum motion with it – you do it one more time to make it seem more real, and Jihun is looking at you with worship in his eyes. You bite back a smile and push your hand a little bit harder “giving strength” to your hand to do the full circle. Jihun squeals.

“That’s pretty impressive, sis.” You immediately straighten and look out to the hallway, where lo and behold, the older of Oh brother is standing. Well, he is leaning against a rail looking at you with a glint in his eyes.

It’s been a few weeks since you started sitting for Mrs Oh. You were coming in for three evenings a week and sometimes few hours on weekends. It was a good gig – Jihun was mostly lovely, not an obnoxious kid. Mr Oh paid good, and Mrs Oh was lovely, both making sure to take you back home after you finished your duties. They also allowed you to make use of their kitchen and pool (as long as Jihun was taken care of), and overall you couldn’t complain.

The only downside of the deal was _the older_ Oh. Tall and handsome, very popular at school, star of volleyball team (in short – perfect jock). Also, a senior and heartthrob of most girls in your school. With a description like that no one should be surprised that he was kind of an asshole. He called you “sis” (you suppose it’s derived from “babysitter”, but that’s still bullshit) and never overlooked a chance to tease you.

And let’s be real – no girl wants to be constantly made fun of by a handsome guy.

“Sehun, dance with us!” Jihun calls, waving for his older brother, and Sehun smiles.

“Yeah, that’s unlikely Junior. She is at least paid to do that.” Is that really a thing to say to a child?

But Sehun doesn’t seem to be aware of how dickish that sounded and he straightens to his full 6’, going down the last three steps.

“But I certainly wouldn’t mind watching sis dance?” He says stretching the sounds and you can feel the warmth on your neck. That can be labelled as harassment – the only problem is Sehun is devilishly handsome and you have no qualms whatsoever about him doing that.

At least someone wants to.

(The feminist in you is crying the tears of blood.)

“Hm,” you hum, hoping that you are not as red as you feel you are. “As you said I am paid to dance _with Jihun_.”

Sehun’s face contorts in mock pain with hand on his chest as if he’s been shot.

“The little one always getting the best stuff.” He laments, and then he smiles – a smile that doesn’t really reach his eyes, and goes to the kitchen.

You blink and exhale through your nose wanting to calm yourself down. Every confrontation with Sehun puts you on the edge.

“Dance, dance!” Jihun calls for you, having already forgotten about his brother. You wish you could do the same.

*

“He said that to your face?”

So you are in the cafeteria with Mira and Eunmi, the rest of your squad had yet to arrive, but you couldn’t wait. Girls were always eager to hear what new happened at Oh’s house. They believed that somehow you’d become a part of that “circle”. Maybe through osmosis.

You know that won’t happen, but it doesn’t mean you can’t tell them what Sehun did when you were at work. Because, surprisingly, he _always_ , did something.

“Yup.” You say, clucking with your mouth and shrugging. Eunmi shakes his head, but Mira is staring at you with eyes shining and spoon in her mouth.

“I can’t believe. How objectifying that is?” Eunmi seems disgusted and you nod along, thinking how you _enjoyed_ that.

“Please, as if you wouldn’t drop your pants for him hearing something like that.” You think Mira is seeing right through you, but she is talking to indignant Eunmi.

You notice Sehun across the cafeteria fooling around with the rest of the volleyball team. Laughing he doesn’t look so menacing. One of his friends, Chanyeol, notices you looking and you immediately look away making it even more suspicious. You are in the middle of an internal rant against yourself when Mira hisses into her spoon.

“Sehun is staring at our table and oh… He is walking here!” Even Eunmi seems to be unsure of what to do, but you, for one, know exactly what you should do.

“Ok, girls, see you later.” You say and you grab your tray making a very hasty, ungraceful retreat.

*

Ok, so you are a coward. You can say that it’s nothing but the truth.

Sehun could have been going for more food or he just happened to go straight for your table – but you panicked and you ran away, because, that’s it, you are a coward. You really don’t want him to tease you in school as well.

But the truth is, he wasn’t coming to you. Why would he? You are Jihun’s babysitter, not an acquaintance.

And even if that’s annoying, and even if that hurts your pride – that’s the reality.

You shut your locker, grabbing water – you’ll use all that negative energy for the track. On the field, you are bouncing on your feet ready to go and as soon as the coach is done with attention, you start off. You ignore _take it easy!_ – you are not new to the track, you know what to do not to injure yourself.

The air smells of grass and dust, your running shoes pleasantly muffling your steps. You can feel how your ponytail is bouncing behind you and how your chest heaves with every breath. In the beginning, it’s not easy to keep up the even breath, but after the first few laps, you find the right rhythm, allowing you to forget about people around you. Soon you move to the first lane, where you push yourself to go for top speed in a stride, just to fall down to the second line during recovery.

Before you know it coach whistles you all down for stretching. You enjoy the feeling of your tendons pulling, even sweat slowly drying on your skin is somehow pleasant.

*

Trying to put Jihun to bed is just as straining as your practice is, but definitely not that pleasant. You understand that the boy doesn’t want to go to sleep if he can play, and have fun, and explore the world, but he also has a curfew you need to keep.

Because that’s what you are paid for.

But finally, finally he goes to sleep, and when you quietly leave his room, you can feel how cold your back is from the drying sweat. Definitely not sexy.

“Fancy putting _me_ to sleep?” Of course, Sehun is right there to attack you, as handsome as always, leaning against the wall right next to his own room. His position leaves you with little space to go past him to the staircase. But his eyebrow is cocked, and his hands are in his pockets – and you really don’t want to go near in case her sweat can be smelled.

“You are a big boy, you will do just fine.” You manage, crossing your arms on your chest. When you notice Sehun’s eyes dropping you blush, letting your arms fall to your sides.

“Damn, will I ever deserve what Jihun just gets? Why are you so cold?” You feel awkward, and you simply don’t know what to say. You _understand_ it’s a joke at your expense, but you don’t know how to counter it.

So you decide that it’s better to just go downstairs. Sehun’s broad shoulders don’t help in such a narrow corridor and as you are going he doesn’t even try to move, so you _very_ awkwardly wiggle next to the rail. The moment you take the first step down, enormous relief hits you. You only need to wait for Mrs Oh to come back and you are free to go.

“I knew you run track, but I was really surprised with the velocity you can achieve.” You stop in your tracks and look up at Sehun, who moved to the rail to look at you from above (even though he always looks at people from above). He probably sees your confusion, because he smiles a very lazy smile. “Today, when you were running away from me in the cafeteria?”

The sound of the car on the driveway is your saviour because you _really_ don’t know what to say to that. You nearly run down, getting even redder when you realize that you are once again running away from him.

“Hi, Mrs Oh, Mr Oh!” You greet them as soon as they enter. If they are surprised by your red face and Sehun leaning over the rail – they say nothing. “Jihun is fast asleep.”

“Oh, good. Was he troublesome today?” It’s Mrs Oh, who asks, and you just smile.

“No more than usual.”

“Good.” She searches her purse for money for you, and you hear the door closing upstairs. “Sehun’s dad will take you home.”

*

You like Mr Oh. He is not talkative. You want to believe that he is attentive, and you imagine he is a good father, although quite tired. You’ve heard horror stories about father who try to flirt with nannies, but Mr Oh was always proper and nice to you.

Total opposite of his firstborn.

The minus of Mr Oh not being talkative is that you can have a mad monologue in your head about the fact that Sehun was indeed trying to come to your table. Or was he? If he wasn’t why would he say that you were running away from him? Was it that obvious?

Probably.

Probably very much.

*

You like running. Which is an obvious statement, you are part of the track team. But you genuinely like running on or off the track. With music or without. In sun or in rain – you like to run. But you especially like to run in the morning when the world is only waking up. When the sun is soft and low, when there is still dew on lawns, when the newspaper boy is out on his delivery.

When the only other people on the street are other runners. You enjoy greeting them, the sense of community is the best – it’s what keeps you running when you feel like you’ve had enough. It’s just a jolt of energy when someone waves to you on their way.

When you arrive at home there is a towel waiting for you in the hallway and you throw it on your head with a smile, kicking your shoes off and going straight to the kitchen where your father is just cooking.

“Hi, jogger.” He greets you and immediately swats you away when you try to sit down at the counter. “Shower, please.”

You groan, but you stand up, stretching your arms above your head.

“Mrs Oh called.”

“At this hour?” You are surprised. It’s before eight on Saturday. Which probably means they want you to come in _today_. You weren’t scheduled for today. You _don’t_ want to go.

“Yes, they have some kind of emergency – at least that’s what she said. And she was asking if there was a chance that you could be there asap.” Your father continues and you roll your eyes.

“And you said?”

“That as soon as she takes a shower, she’ll be on her way.” You are not even surprised.

*

At least the weather is nice, and you knew that so you’ve came prepared. Mr and Mrs Oh were very apologetic, of course, and of course, they were going to make it worth your time.

Of course.

But just like your father said when he sensed that you are about to whine – you didn’t have plans to do anything either way.  So you can do nothing while keeping your eye on an overall good kid and earn some extra cash.

And, because life is nice, you can do it while floating in Ohs’ pool.

But you’ve checked – Sehun is out. According to Jihun, he is never home on the weekends. Which is surprising, because he definitely is home every time when you work on the weekend.

But you can understand that he can have better things to do on Saturday. Hanging out with guys. Taking a girlfriend on a date. Living life. And by God, let him realize that he can also do that on school nights. If he could come back as his parents do… That would be lovely.

 _But no one would tease you then_.

You ignore that unimportant thought and open your eyes to check where Jihun is. He is old enough to be able (and enjoy) playing alone – which is awesome because you get to lounge on the mattress.

“Who ordered this pretty girl?” Sehun’s voice is so startling that you nearly slide off the mattress. Jihun‘s excited squeal is loud enough to make neighbour dog start barking.

Sehun is molesting you. What is new under the sun. But his eyes… He really seems to be enjoying you in your bikini, and you decide that sliding into the pool might be a good idea. You’ve checked. You’ve asked Jihun. And yet, like a devil – Sehun is standing right at the edge in his dark jeans that fit him impeccably and brown sweater, and it’s unreal how good he looks.

“Play with us!” Jihun is so excited, that he looks delirious. You are pretty sure that Sehun doesn’t really pay attention to Jihun, who idolizes him.

The boy jumps out of the shallow end of the pool and starts running to the house.

“Jihun! Don’t run!” You call after him. “Where are you going!”

Boy just waves at you, but he slows down. You know you should go after him. But at the same time, Jihun is not dumb, and you don’t want to go out of the water. Now you can use the mattress to shield you from Sehun’s eyes. Which still annoys you, because why did he have to come? Now you won’t be able to enjoy being in the pool.

 _But you’ll be able to enjoy Sehun_. Once again you ignore that.

“What is your deal?” You ask, and Sehun looks surprised. “Jihun said that you are never home on weekends. Why are you doing here now? What for?”

“It’s my house – I am pretty sure I have more reasons to be here than you.”

“Yeah, but it seems like you are home only when I’m here.” So, you weren’t supposed to say that. You may be annoyed, but you are not stupid enough to do such a thing. Or at least so you thought. _Why_. Why did your mouth decide it’s a smart move to imply that it’s you who makes him come home. You’ll never leave that down – blush is already creeping up your neck.

Sehun blinks slowly, then that familiar lazy smirk appears on his face.

“Why, such amazing deduction skills we have there.” He says in his usual obnoxious intonation. Great. You’ve made him laugh. “I can’t say it’s not true.”

 _Holy shit_.


	2. Chapter 2

You feel as if someone just punched you in the guts – and it’s not something you wanted to experience. You slowly exhale, making sure that your legs are still working to keep you above water level.

Then you just laugh incredulously. There is no chance in hell that Sehun would be interested in  _you_ . Even if his words sounds like that, he probably meant something along the lines:  _it’s fun to tease you, so I can’t skip your working shift._ Or something similar. The way Sehun looks at you laughing tells you just as much. He looks cold and withdrawn.

“You can’t be serious,” you wheeze, and Sehun’s eye twitches. He looks down, scraping his lower lip with his teeth and then pushing his tongue into his cheek – he doesn’t look _happy_.

“Because I’m not,” he snorts. Something is wrong with his voice and you fully expect him to tease you one way or another. “Why would I come home to meet Jihun’s babysitter?”

It hurts you, you can’t deny. It was obvious from the start, but you still don’t appreciate being labeled only as a worker in his house. Especially when all of his teasing started to put specks of hope in your mind, that maybe, only  _maybe_ , you could stand a chance? But obviously world doesn’t work like this, and hot jocks don’t fall for babysitters.

Jihun comes back running holding something in his chubby fist waving it triumphally in front of himself. Upon closer inspection you realize it’s male swimming shorts, probably Sehun’s.

Which Sehun snatches from Jihun’s hand.

“What did I tell you about walking into my room?” It’s so _cold_. Sehun doesn’t even look back as he walks back into house and you can see how Jihun’s lower lip starts to shake. 

The siren in your head is blaring. You push the mattress away, swimming to the edge.

“Hi, Jihun, come here! Want to swim with me?” You ask reaching your hands out to the child, but as Jihun looks at you his eyes are glassy with tears.

_Shit, shit, SHIT_ .

“Why Sehun hates me?” _Oh my god_. Those are the words that fall from Jihun’s mouth and then he is wailing. Child’s despair is deep. You jump out of the pool and immediately go for a hug. Small hands try to grab you – but you are not really wearing clothes, so one of the hands grab a fistful of your hair – you are not going to complain.

“He doesn’t hate you,” you murmur quietly maneuvering yourself on to the tiles next to the pool, and kid onto your knees. You rock him as he cries into your chest. _It’s probably you who Sehun hates_. Maybe not _hates_. Hate is such a strong emotion and you can’t really believe Sehun would care about you enough to hate you. But he might dislike you. “Sehun doesn’t hate you, Jihun.”

You can’t really say more, so you repeat it over and over again. You put your cheek against the top of boy’s head. When his crying starts to wind down, turning into hiccups and wheezing, you affectionately kiss boy’s damp hair and press the other cheek to his head. Like that you can see the house and you see Sehun in the kitchen with a cup in his hand. Your head snaps up and you want to call him to apologize to his brother, but it could be a transgression of your duties. 

There is probably a valid reason behind the fact you are hired for taking care of Jihun, while there is other teenager in the house. Who could probably manage taking care of his brother.

When you focus on the window once more, Sehun is already gone.

*

“By the way – how did you start babysitting at Ohs?” 

It’s self study time and as always most of the class is not really studying. Surprise, surprise. You do your homework, because today you are going to work. Eunmi is sitting next to you reading something, probably another fantasy book and Mira is sitting in front of you. Until this point she was doing Sudoku, but she suddenly turned around to ask this.

“You know that. Mrs Oh asked my dad at parental meeting,” you say shrugging, because you’ve already told them that.

“Well, yeah, but why did Mrs Oh ask your father?” Presses Mira and you shrug once more. Eunmi is looking at both of you over her book.

“I don’t know? Does it matter thou?” You say, looking down t your Math’s homework, but Mira won’t be brushed off like that. She turns back on her chair – but it’s only so she can turn around the whole chair.

“Obviously,” she says with a very pointed stare as if that should be just as obvious to you as it is to her. “Think about it. Does Mrs Oh know your father? Does she know you? Why would she come to your father and specifically ask whether you’d like to earn some cash babysitting her second son? Like why you?”

There is a silence following that question and really it is a good one, but also you don’t want to think about it. Because you don’t want to face the answer. Not after what happened on Saturday.

“Well, she is a good student? Teachers know her to be responsible,’ says Eunmi. That could also be true, but somehow you can’t imagine Mrs Oh asking your teachers who could be a good babysitter. Even Eunmi sounds skeptical as she points it out.

“That’s BS,” counters Mira, and Eunmi just shrugs. “I will tell you _why_. It’s because Sehun told his mother that you’ll be a good candidate.”

You sputter – because you can’t find it plausible. Not after what happened last time you took care of Jihun. Your mind helpfully supplies the conversation that happened between the two of you (so Sehun and you), and you start analyzing it (even though you don’t really wan to). Because that exchange was  _weird_ . In the beginning, he sported that easy but  _lazy_ smirk. The one that made him look like he was the king of the situation. But how did he look just before he said that  _he couldn’t say it wasn’t true_ ? Was he surprised? Was he annoyed? Was he indifferent? You can’t really pinpoint what he was feeling.

And later – when he becomes annoyed…  _No_ , you realize,  _it’s only when you laugh that he becomes sullen_ . And his last remark sounds like something said to make  _you_ hurt. To make  _you_ insignificant. 

But  _why?_

You know that Mira might have a perfect answer for you. You know what that answer might be, but you are not going to share this event and your analysis. Because, once again, you don’t want to find out an answer to your queries.

When the bell sounds and you gather your things to go to the next class, Mira stops you in your tracks.

“Are you working today?” She asks and you shake your head for _no_. She smiles. “Great – so we are going to watch Volleyball’s practice game after classes.”

Your heart drops. You don’t want to do it – not because of Sehun or the fact that you don’t like watching games. The thing is – you do. It’s usually fun, athletic guys can be an eyeful when the play good. And you also enjoy rooting for your team. 

And there is no denying that Sehun is both handsome and athletic – so watching him would be a very pleasant experience.

But you don’t want to go there, because you know Mira, and you know she is going to use this game as an excuse to find something more about Sehun’s  _hidden motive_ . Which will probably be very embarrassing and very annoying.

You look to Eunmi for rescue, but she is not looking at you, focused on texting someone.

“Great. I will message the rest of the girls,” she says and you lose your voice in disbelief. How can even Eunmi be against you? But then again Eunmi always liked to watch people suffer, so it should come as much of a surprise.

You can feel your phone vibrating in your back pocket – it means that your squad’s chat is very much alive and you are not going to be able to sit this one out.

*

So you find yourself in your school’s gym surrounded by your friends. You are all gathered on the wooden (retractable) bleachers. Mira and Kyunghee are sitting one row lower, Eunmi is on your left, Miko is on your right, and Suhyeong with Kyumin are sitting behind you. You expected that Kyunghee and Miko would join you, but you didn’t think that guys would tag along as well.

“Ok, so we are here, because…?” Kyumin asks leaning down between you and Miko. You want to scream.

“Because we want to show our support to volleyball team,” says Eunmi indifferently, but when you look at her, her eyes are sparkling.

“Also, we are here to find out if Oh Sehun is interested in our dearest friend,” chips in Mira patting your knee. You remain silent, because that whole notion is ridiculous.

Few  _ooh_ fall around you and you just shake your head.

“That’s BS.” You muse, but no one pays attention to you, because everyone is looking at the volleyball team.

“Oh Sehun is that tall stoic guy?” Asks Suhyeong, and Kyunghee nods.

“Yeah, number 9.” She supplies helpfully and you take out your phone to focus on something else. Your FB’s feed is going to be safer.

“And why do we think that he is interested in _our dearest friend?_ ” Asks Kyumin and you blindly smack him, which is greeted with laughter.

“Sehun is looking over here!” Miko’s theatrical whisper is nearly drawn out, by Mira’s answer.

“Well, she is babysitting Sehun’s younger brother, and he never skips a chance to throw a sexual innuendo while she is at their house.”

“Ok, seems legit.” Kyumin seems to be satisfied. You look up to see Sehun turning his head away. Was he really watching you?

Bleachers are not by all means full. There are mostly empty with maybe three or four groups like yours so it’s easy to say that your group is sticking out like a sore thumb. And you are sitting right in the center of bleachers, with you in the center of your friends, so you probably just stick out.

“Hi, if we are checking that – do you want me to hug our _nanny_ to see if Sehun will be jealous?” Once again you smack Kyumin (seriously, you _have_ a name) as he asks his question. 

“Yes!” You are surprised to see Eunmi join Mira in her madness, but she does. Their conjoined scream echoes in the gym making people look at you – just when Kyumin slides lower and to your bewilderment he does hug you, putting his chin on your shoulder.

“Oh, look, he is _looking_ ,” he says into your ear. You are friends with Kyumin, so you don’t mind being hugged by him, but this whole premise is getting old and it is _juvenile_ , but when you look up you can see Sehun looking at you with blank face.

So you blush.

Big deal.

Sehun doesn’t do anything significant – he simply turns away and resumes his warm up. You detangle yourself from Kyumin’s arms.

“See? He doesn’t care. Can we please drop this?” You beg and Mira mutters something inaudibe. You don’t get other reaction than that, so you cross your arms on your chest and you slide down in your seat.

Thankfully no one brings it again, and somewhere in the middle of second set you find yourself relaxed enough to be able to cheer for your team. 

And you can’t help but notice that, yes, Sehun looks amazing while jumping to the block, or jumping to serve. You are never going to admit that you enjoy Sehun while he jumps because his shirt rides up when he falls down.

It’s beneath you. 

But overall it is a good game (although Sehun’s team loses 1:3), and you enjoy watching it (especially when no one is counting every time Sehun glances at the bleachers – because your friends did just that).

“Boooring,” whines Miko after game ends and you bite your lips not to say anything. Had they asked you, you’d tell them that Sehun is not going to confess his deep feelings for you in the middle of the game. You are sure that they were expecting something along those lines.

“Can we just forget about this?” You ask and Mira just shakes her head.

“No, I don’t think that we saw everything. I still think that something is fishy there.” You like Mira, but sometimes you just want to strangle her. “Maybe he doesn’t consider Kyumin to be a real opponent for someone like him?”

You snort with Suhyeong and Eunmi, because wow, that was ruthless.

“Burn,” whispers Kyunghee, as Miko slaps Mira’s arm.

“Ouch,” says Kyumin without any offense. “You might tone it down, Mira, before anyone is hurt.”

And that’s a statement you can wholeheartedly agree with, but Mira doesn’t seem to care. 

*

Next afternoon you find yourself in empty Ohs’ house. Except for you and Jihun, obviously, but the fact that Sehun is not there is a surprise.

You try to tell yourself that it’s not a big deal, and that it’s even better for you, because no one is going to tease you (but you know that this lack of teasing is what dampens your mood).

You try your best not to act gloomy, but you are and Jihun can feel that because he does his best to cheer you up. And ok, young boy making funny faces at you is adorable, but nowhere near being as satisfying as being teased by handsome guy is. 

In the end you settle together on the couch and watch cartoons. You are content because you don’t have to play with Jihun (and you can just sulk) and boy can watch cartoons to his heart’s content.

Your heart starts beating faster when you hear front door open. Jihun squeals (you are always surprised by the depth of boy’s feelings for his asshole of older brother) and runs to hallway. 

“Sehun, Sehun!” You can hear Jihun’s excitement and you just smile at Tom&Jerry playing on TV.

“Hi, junior!” Ok, that’s wrong. Sehun sounds as if he was sincerely happy to see his younger brother, which literally never happened. “This is my younger brother: Jihun. Jihun, meet my friend – Changmi.”

“Hello, Jihun. Nice to meet you!”

Oh, ok. That voice is clearly female. There is no point in denying how much of a disappointment is that. Because yes, you were starting to believe in you chances.

You hear steps in the hallway and you look around to see Jihun in  _Sehun’s arms._ Another first. And you get to see Changmi, who looks just like you’ve imagined. Perfect. Beautiful. Glamorous.

“Oh, and that is Jihun’s babysitter,” says Sehun upon seeing you and puts Jihun down, who runs to you. Boy is quite overwhelmed by the situation and you can see that. You find it funny that you don’t even deserve to be introduced by your name. _Funny_.

Changmi’s stare is politely taxing, and you can’t blame her. And you can’t blame her for having perfect skin and luxurious pitch black locks. So you smile. It’s your best  _I’m-neighbour’s-daughter_ smile, the happy-not-threatening one.

“Hi, nice to meet you.” Your voice is just as pleasant as your smile and you refuse to look at Sehun while you do that. Jihun is yanking your shirt to get your attention and Changmi stares at you for a second longer, clearly deciding what to make of you. But she finally decides you are not a threat and she smiles back.

“Hello, nice to meet you, too, Jihun’s babysitter.” She laughs pleasantly at the end of her sentence and you join her albeit a little less cheerfully. Sehun shifts on his legs and smiles when he notices Changmi looking at him. Then he leads her upstairs.

“She is pretty,” whispers Jihun behind you and you can only press your lips in a thin line.

*

They stay in his room the whole afternoon which really puts you in foul mood, but thankfully Jihun is too busy being hyper. You don’t really control him, because he really wants to show off and he keeps interrupting Sehun’s rendezvous. Of course, you are apologetic every time that happens, but you can’t control the kid, right?

She is still in Sehun’s room when you go to put Jihun to sleep, but when you walk out of his room, Sehun is walking up the stairs.

“Good game,” you say. You really needed to say something to him. You couldn’t explain why, even if you tried, but you just really needed to _break the silence_.

“Thanks,” he says warily. Or maybe you are imagining that and he says that normally. Like he doesn’t care.

“You didn’t lose because difference in skills but rather the team work,” you continue, wishing that you could stop. Why are you still talking? “Next time you are going to win and that’s for sure.”

You can’t be sure, because Sehun face is hidden in shadow, but you think you can see amusement in his eyes.

“Thank you.” But it still is not enough. Why is it not enough? _Why?_

“And I see you found yourself a girlfriend.” This doesn’t come out as casual as you hoped it would.

“And I see you found yourself a boyfriend.”

Oh. Oh.  _Oooh._ So he did look.


	3. Chapter 3

You understan d that is the moment to thread carefully. And that you don’t have much time to decide what to say, how to answer. Because you can either agree or disagree with Sehun’s statement. Agreeing means that you are saving your face, not looking lame to Sehun (and let’s be honest, you don’t want to look lame). Disagreeing means that you’ll have to explain that Kyumin is just your  boy friend – which could possibly lead to Sehun admitting that Changmi is not his girlfriend. But that could be your wishful thinking only.

On another note, where did he get Changmi from?

You look up at Sehun and you wet your lips, feeling how dry they’ve suddenly become. You  _really_ don’t want to look lame.

“Uh, yeah,” you say, even as you are mentally kicking yourself. Why can you just be honest?

“Right,” says Sehun and with that as an ending note he goes into his room.

*

Few carefully posed questions bring you answers. Changmi is senior just like Sehun, apparently part of drama club, very skilled in singing. Mira, your source, asks you why, but you don’t answer, not wanting to go into details.

But the  _why_ gets answered at lunch.

“No,” whines Mira, turning around to face you. You don’t even have to look up to know that Changmi is sitting at Sehun’s table. That is certainly quick working on Sehun’s end. “No…. Nooooooo. No. Nonononononono.”

“Shut up,” barks Eunmi. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’ve been asking myself that for long time,” you mutter, but no one takes notice.

“I was asked by _a certain somebody_ who _a certain girl_ is, and now that girl is sitting at volleyball’s team table and is making puppy eyes at Sehun!”

You shrug, when they both turn to you and pin you with their stares.

“She was at Ohs’ last night.” 

Even Eunmi seems heartbroken.

“So that’s it for your romance?” You blink munching on your lunch, not knowing what to answer.

Instead you just look up and you catch Sehun’s eyes. You decide in a split of a second to smile at him. Since when you are on such a basis? You don’t know, but you smile nonetheless. One corner of his mouth twitches as if he was about to answer, but in the end he just looks down.

_Coward_ .

*

“Oh, hi!” The voice is cheerful and right next to you, so you don’t have a choice but to assume that it’s directed at you. You turn around and there is smiling Changmi, looking as fresh as morning dew. Her smile breaks into more playful one, before she adds. “Jihun’s babysitter.”

You join her in laughter, still not offering your name. Is that spite? Yes, it is.

If she is disturbed by that, she doesn’t let it show.

“How can I help you?” You ask, fixing your bags strap – you notice Mira and Kyumin at the end of the hallway. Mira is telling him something, and you’d be surprised if it wasn’t about Sehun and Changmi.

“Oh,, no, I just wanted to say hello. I just felt I was rude because I couldn’t say “hi” when I was leaving Sehun’s house yesterday.” Isn’t she the sweetest?

“Don’t worry about it.” You decide you are disturbed. You didn’t know how to feel about Changmi, but you certainly don’t want her to be friendly to you. She can be nice, but not friendly. You don’t want her to greet you on the hallways.

Mira and Kyumin are walking your way, having probably deciding that you need a rescue team. You really don’t but you are thankful for having such good friends.

Are those Sehun’s legs coming down the stairs? Of course, they are. Should you consider disturbing the fact that you recognize his legs? Probably.

“Yeah, I know, but there is a chance that we will be seeing each other regularly, so I just thought that… I don’t know? It would be nice to get to know each other?”

Is there a polite way to tell someone you don’t want to get to know them? Also it’s getting really hard to look Changmi in the face when just behind her you can see Kyumin walking past Sehun, and Sehun actually following him with his eyes.

Is that jealousy? _Please_ , let it be jealousy.

You are falling for Oh Sehun and you are falling hard. It shouldn’t be a new information, but this realization hits you like a bus.

“Oh, yes, we totally should,” you hear yourself say, just when Mira and Kyumin finally reach you. She hooks her arm with yours and Kyumin throws his arm on your shoulder. At least it plays with your lie.

“Hello there,” says Kyumin and Changmi asses both him and Mira. It’s getting awkward. This whole situation is already taking too much time, and it’s just going downhill.

“Oh, Changmi, those are my, um, friends. Mira and Kyumin.” You say as an introduction. Thankfully Changmi seems to be considering it her cue to go.

“Oh, nice to meet you guys! I should get going, so I guess, see you around?”

“Yeah, see you!” You answer in unison as she smiles and disappears in the crowd. For a brief second you feel relief, but then you realize that your rescuers are still at your side. Probably dying for answers – you can feel it in Kyumin’s hold on you, his palm resting on your clavicle. 

Changmi’s perfect hair flashes through the crowd and you are surprised how much it pains you to see her next to Sehun. However, it’s the fact that Kyumin decides to whisper something to you, just when Sehun glances at your group, that causes you the most distress.

Because Sehun just looks away.

“We need to talk,” you hear in your ear. You are too dazed and too _disappointed_ to react as Kyumin steers you away from Mira, and down the hallway. You are not sure how he manages to  break free from _Mira_ (let’s face it, no one can get away from Mira), but you find yourself on the staircase leading to the basement with busy hallway behind you. 

“Well,” you snap back to reality, awakened by Kyumin’s voice,” would you like to explain to me why am I being congratulated on getting a girlfriend?”

You are mortified. Not because you are embarrassed (Kyumin is your friend, it will be relatively easy to explain), but because it’s spreading around. Which means Sehun is the one behind spreading it. 

“The curious part is that it was vaguely implied that _you_ are that girlfriend,” adds Kyumin looking at you and probably searching for guilt in your features. He won’t find it.

“Who congratulated you?” You ask, instead of explaining. You can see that Kyumin is not ready to drop his case, but you are firm enough in your stance to see his resolve disappearing.

“Baekhyun,” he admits and as you try to place him in Sehun’s vicinity, Kyumin hurries to help. “Byun Baekhyun, I have Literature with him, and he is best mate of Chanyeol? The tallest guy in the volleyball team.”

“Oh, right,” you hum, and then you shrug. Well, it happened, you can only explain and draw up a plan. “I think that Sehun might have assumed that.”

“Sehun? Why?”

“Because you’ve hugged me during the game yesterday? I don’t think I was sufficiently clear while denying it.” Ok, so maybe you are a liar. But no one is going to find out – it’s not like Kyumin and Sehun are on speaking basis or anything. And sure as hell, you are not going to admit, that you didn’t even try to deny.

“So, he did look,” says Kyumin and you nod. It’s funny how it you had the same reaction when Sehun inquired about Kyumin back at his house. Kyumin hums quietly and leans against the wall. “So it means he cares.”

You can’t help but snap your eyes up to Kyumin, but then you look down at your feet. Your sneakers might use some washing. You  _really_ want Sehun to care.

“Yeah, but then there is Changmi.”

“That hot girl from earlier?” He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Woah, Kyumin, that is _nice_ ,” how sad is that you are _offended_ by Changmi’s beauty. How can you beat that? “But yes, that _hot girl_ from earlier.  Sehun brought her home yesterday.”

“ _After_ the game, right?” Kyumin stresses the word “after” and you nod. What surprises you, is the smile that follows. “Girl, he likes you.”

Are you blushing, because yes, you are  _totally_ blushing. You have no idea when that happened, between Sehun teasing you (or sometimes straight sexually harassing you), but you became fond of the guy – and nothing could make your day more than hearing that there is a chance that he might like you (and that it’s not only your imagination).

“You think so?” You are both coy and embarrassed and Kyumin laughs.

“Oh my god, you like him as well! Girl, and you were so in denial. But yeah, I am pretty sure – if it’s true that he brought a girl that _hot_ home, knowing that you’ll be there, straight after a game where he saw you with your _alleged boyfriend_ , you have great taste in guys by the way, it’s obvious that he did it to make you jealous.”

You hide your face in your hands because you can’t stand it.  _Please, let it be true_ . You don’t ask for much, you only want Kyumin’s words to be true.

“And I am pretty sure, you _are_ jealous...” Kyumin teases you, but you can’t be mad. “Are you going to do something about it?”

That’s a valid question. One you didn’t consider earlier – but you  _should_ do something about it. If it’s not only you that sees how  _suspicious_ Sehun’s behavior is, it means that there is a chance that you are right. So you need to clear the boyfriend misunderstanding, and you need to make sure that Changmi is not really in the picture.

“I should, shouldn’t I?” You say, looking up at Kyumin, and he laughs again, probably at your enthusiasm.

Which dies as soon as you are back on the hallway, because you are faced with Changmi and Sehun kissing next to his locker.

*

The higher the horse the more painful is fall. You can now say that those words are pretty true because seeing Sehun  _snog_ with Changmi seconds after you’ve become convinced that you are few sentences away from your happily-ever-after was pretty painful.

Yeah. Painful.

Kyumin’s sudden death-grip on your shoulder steering you away wasn’t helping either.  The fact that he couldn’t find words to cheer you up also wasn’t helping. You both knew that it wasn’t the ending you were reading yourself for.

But as pain turned from striking open-wound-pain to numbing headache you couldn’t help but wonder at how fast they were acting. Sehun invited her over just yesterday, and the next day they were already kissing on the hallways? Way to go.

Were you hurt? Yes. Were you disappointed? Yes. Were you salty? Very much so.

Because in your mind, it should have been you.

It’s another cartoon day at Ohs house, because Jihun can sense how foul your mood is. You have to admit that this child is god-sent because he lets you wallow in self-pity as he watches one dumb animation after other. Your phone is vibrating from all the messages you are getting (because Kyumin turned out to be somehow a dick – sharing the story with the rest of your squad – they were all horrified, angry and amused).

You hear front door open and close, and Jihun is already running to the hallway.

“Sehun!” He shrieks delighted. One lone thought in your mind tells you that it’s good to have your own “Sehun-alarm”.

“Hi, Jihun.” There is another delighted giggle and you roll your eyes. If Sehun is good to his brother, he is showing off to Changmi. You school yourself to greet them.

Sehun is holding Jihun up when he comes into the living room, but he is alone.

“Where is the girlfriend?” You ask, and you can’t believe how salty you are. You’ve never planned on saying that – it’s both lame and stupid. Sehun face falls from pleasant to wary. Way to go, girl.

“Rehearsal,” he says and puts Jihun down. You wonder if him being nice to Jihun is connected with the thing between the two of you.

You don’t say anything because there is nothing to say,  and you turn back to the TV. After a moment Jihun climbs up on the couch to join you, and you hear Sehun walk away. And it could have been so nice and lovely and romantic, but here you are – salty and lonely.

“By the way,” you hear Sehun’s voice and you look back to see him on the stairs. Looks like he still has something to tell you. “Thanks to you and your boyfriend, Changmi and I found a nice quiet place – I’ve never thought that stairs leading to basement were useful like that.”

You are sure it’s meant to hurt. Because it does. It hurts, but also… It seems juvenile. And you don’t want to play it. You did for a second, but now in all honesty, you don’t.

“Kyumin is not my boyfriend,” you say and you turn back to the TV. You don’t see Sehun’s face, but you do hear the heavy silence that follows your statement.

Ha!  _The ball is in_ your  _court._


	4. Chapter 4

“He is not?” Sehun sounds confused and it gives you such a thrill. You feared teasing and jokes, but having him lost is a dream come true. Yes, Sehun, suffer from that knowledge. (You are not sure if he will suffer but in your mind? It should at least break him.)

“You have a boyfriend?” Jihun turns his face to you, eyes open wide. You smile at the boy and shake your head.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend.” Young Oh stares at you for a second longer and then he nods dutifully and looks back to the TV. It seems refreshingly easy – how this conversation went with Jihun comparing to the disaster that was your conversation with Sehun. But Jihun generally is cuter. You ruffle boy’s hair and he snuggles into your side. Yes, much cuter.

“But he hugged you.” Because of your exchange with Jihun, you didn’t hear Sehun coming back to the living room. “I saw it. Twice.”

He is right behind you and you are not going to look at him.

“That’s what friends do,” you say with a shrug.

The reaction you get is not what you expected or envisioned. You didn’t expect unfamiliar warmth behind you. You didn’t expect arm resting across your shoulders – namely, you didn’t expect Sehun to bend over the couch to hug you from behind. Warmth and intimacy render you speechless, but it’s the smell that nearly knocks you out. Up till now you only smelled Sehun in passing – but being surrounded by his smell is something you could get used to.

“Is that what friends do?” Sehun’s voice is low and rough around the edges. He speaks directly into your ear and you can feel goosebumps appearing on your skin and tingling of your scalp.

You swallow reading yourself to answer that yes, _it’s what friends do_. Even though it feels like a lie.

“Go. Away!” It’s Jihun. The boy stands up on the couch pushing his brother away. Sehun is surprised, you are surprised, and Jihun is… Angry. “Leave Φ alone!”

Sehun allows his brother to push him away and immediately you miss his warmth against you, but you are more concerned about Jihun.

“Jihun,” says Sehun, probably wanting to calm him down.

“No! You always do that! You are always mean and I won’t let you bully Φ!” It’s really chivalrous of Jihun, but also _very_ concerning. You were sure that Jihun was idolizing Sehun, but it seems like even he can be fed up with his older brother. “You have Changmi!”

 _Wow_ , that hurts. It’s really sweet of Jihun to come to your rescue, but you wish he didn’t point out Changmi in the equation. Because the only thing you can see when you hear that name is Sehun kissing her in the hallway.

“Jihun,” tries Sehun again, shooting you a quick glance. You are not helping him. It seems to only piss Jihun off because he jumps to the floor and goes around the couch, pushing Sehun out of the room.

“Go away, go away!”

In the future, this scene is going to make you laugh. You are sure of that, but now, you just look away, focusing on the cartoon and missing Sehun’s warmth.

Jihun comes back to you with a stern look on his face – it looks adorable when he climbs up on the couch. You don’t comment on that though, not wanting to hurt his pride.

“Are you ok?” He asks, and you just have to smile, even if Jihun did disrupt the important conversation.

“Yes,” you say, grabbing Jihun’s hand. “Thank you.”

The boy nods, not even looking at you.

*

You are not sure where the conversation with Sehun places you – but when you see Changmi at his table at lunch, you know that it doesn’t place you where you want to be.

“Are you ok, Φ?” You blink, surprised to be called out so suddenly and you look to Mira.

“Yes, why?”

“You spaced out a little there…” She says tentatively as if she didn’t want to mention the real reason for you to be spacing out while looking at volleyball table.

Why she is even there? Sehun _knows_ that you are available. And he did _hug_ you. Which was amazing and breathtaking, and you wished that it could happen whenever you please. But. But Changmi is at that table, and you need her _gone_.

You also need to talk to Sehun. You have to finish your conversation that was (so sweetly) cut by Jihun. As a matter of fact, you’ll do it now. Why wait and observe Changmi flirt with Sehun?

“Girls, see you later,” you say to Eunmi and Mira, and you grab your tray – you are walking before they can stop you, and you know they would if they knew what were you planning. But they don’t know, so you are undisturbed on your way to Sehun’s table.

Chanyeol, Baekhyun’s friend, is the first one to notice you. He stares at you probably assessing your trajectory and you smile at him, high on adrenaline. Changmi is the second one, also assessing you, but she is quite quick to smile back at you, wave and call your name – which in turn makes Sehun notice you. Maybe it’s only you, but it looks like he is happy to see you.

“Hi, guys!” You greet the table more cheerful than you feel, and definitely brave. Except for Sehun and Changmi you don’t know anyone here, which should make you at least a little bit self-conscious, but you don’t have time for such feelings now. You are on a mission. And you don’t miss how few of them glances at Changmi and Sehun as you arrive. _Interesting_. “I saw your game a few days ago, and really, it was a good game,” you say and you get few smiles and _next time you’ll win_ back. “And, Sehun, your mom was supposed to give you something for me?”

He looks at you furrowing his eyebrows. He licks his lip, seeming confused – and you need to use all power you have at your disposal not to roll your eyes. His mother wasn’t supposed to give him anything, it’s just a way to get him away from the table. _And Changmi_.

You think that you’ll need to throw him one more clue, but it clicks.

“Right…” He says slowly. “I have it in my locker.”

“Great, I have finished anyway so I will go with you,” you say quite cheerfully. He nods and starts to stand up, but Changmi grabs his shirt.

“Should I go with you?” She asks pursing her lips and looking pleading and vulnerable. You don’t think you could ever achieve this particular look. Sehun smiles down at her and it makes your blood boil.

“I will be back in a second,” he says and you start walking away. You put your tray away, throw away your trash and when you are done you see Sehun in the cafeteria’s doors. You join him and together you go out on the hallway.

“How is _the girlfriend_?” You ask because you can. He gave you his permission when he hugged you. Because he owes you for that.

“Present,” is his answer, which makes you glance at him with annoyance. You can see that. The question is _why_ she is still present.

In silence, you reach his locker, but you walk forward to the basement staircase. He follows you down onto the midsection where you can hide from anyone wandering by.

Sehun is _huge_. It’s still surprising how tall he is, especially in enclosed space just like the staircase. He stops a step away from you, hesitant, but it’s ok – you don’t need him to come closer.

Because you do, grabbing a handful of his shirt and dragging him down so you can throw your arms on his neck. He gave you his explicit permission when he did that himself. Now his smell is stronger, it’s earlier in the day so his cologne is more pronounced. He is also warmer because there is no couch to separate you.

You wait for him to hug you back. He straightens up as he does it his arms holding you close, and you need to go on your toes to still be able to reach him. Your chest is flush against his torso, you can feel your boobs being squished against him.

You stay like that for ten seconds tops. Then you let go, delicately but firmly pushing him away.

“That’s what friends do,” you say and Sehun laughs.

“Bullshit,” he says and takes a step forward to hug you again, but you stop him with an outstretched palm.

“That’s what friends do,” you repeat yourself giving some weight to your words, “until stated otherwise.”

You wait for a spark of understanding in his eyes and then you go out – leaving him to his own devices.

*

Well, you did _that_. If understood correctly, your words can be taken as a confession. Which makes you feel proud of yourself because you would have never thought that you have it in you to confess anyway. It leaves people in a vulnerable position, and one thing is sure – you don’t want to be vulnerable. But this? This gave you a thrill and sense of power.

“Hi,” you hear behind yourself and you turn away from the track. You are so excited for today’s training because of all the energy that is surging through your veins. You see Chanyeol and a guy nearly half his size which seems comical. They are such a mismatched pair. But you know that the small one is volleyball’s team libero. He waves to you from the bleachers. You glance at the coach, and then you jog over to the boys.

“Hi, there,” you greet them, unsure of why they would come to talk to you.

“Sorry, I am Jongdae and this is Chanyeol, and we are here on a mission,” the smaller one says with disarming smile.

“Oh yeah?” You ask politely.

“Yeah… You know, Sehun is a good mate, but he can be kind of dense, so we figured that he needs help,” says Chanyeol quite brusquely and you have to stifle a smile. “He does all the wrong things, for real.”

“Is that so?” You say, glancing at Jongdae who just shrugs and smiles.

“Yeah, because for weeks he was talking about y…”

You raise your hand in alarm.

“Stop. I will have to stop you right here because if you are about to say what I think you are about to say – then you have to stop,” you say urgently and they glance at each other unsure. “If what you want to say is about Sehun having feelings for a girl that is not Changmi, then you’d better be quiet.”

“But…”

“No, it’s unfair to Changmi, that’s for one. But it’s also unfair to the other girl because she might want to hear it from _his_ mouth. And really he needs to drink the beer he brewed for himself.” You are adamant and you don’t look away until they both nod. “Anyway, it was nice to meet you, guys, I need to go back to my training.”

It’s one of your more successful practices – even your coach praises your times as you walk back to the locker room. And it’s all because you are high on hormones and high on the idea that Sehun likes you (because if his friends come to tell you as much, the boy must be pretty smitten).

The only drawback of this whole picture is Changmi. You cringe when you think about her, you pity her and you envy her, and you don’t even know what to think of her. You are also not happy with Sehun for using her – but most importantly, you want her out of the equation.

*

This is not a cartoon day. Your mood is good and Jihun sees that so he drags you out into the backyard where you play hide and seek. Then you chase him until he collapses on the grass breathless from running and laughing. You grab him and hold him up, and when he refuses to stand on his own you have no choice but to hoist him in the air. You don’t particularly enjoy it (it’s 20 kg of additional weight), but you know Jihun does. He hugs you, but you can only think about how effortlessly Sehun seems to be carrying him.

“You know what?” He says against your collarbone.

“Hm?” You hum struggling to open yard door.

“My dad says I am going to be as tall as Sehun is when I grow up.”

“I know you will,” you say and it’s an easy truth. Sehun is tall, their father is tall – it’s going to be a really sad joke of genetics if Jihun is not.

“And I will be taller than you!” He says and you smile – it’s not that hard to be taller than you. You reach the stairs and you start climbing up when you hear the door open and close. It’s Sehun, _it has to be Sehun_. But Jihun is not excitedly shouting his name, so you can’t be sure. “And then I will marry you!”

That gives you a start. It’s really sweet of Jihun to say that, but he is looking behind you – which tells you that he is not really speaking to you. Or rather he wants you to hear it, but it’s meant as a challenge to Sehun. Who, upon checking, is standing behind you in the hallway.

“Sorry, buddy, but it’s unlikely,” he says and you have to close your eyes. Really? Like… Really? Does Sehun really need to go into territorial dispute with his five years old brother?

“Sehun…” You plead, even though you enjoy Sehun getting territorial. If it wasn’t against Jihun you’d enjoy it so much more.

“I will!” Repeats Jihun and you can feel the tension in the boy’s body. Great. “And you can’t have Changmi and Φ. And you are always mean to Φ!”

Both are true, but it doesn’t mean you enjoy Jihun fidgeting in your arms getting angry at Sehun. You also don’t enjoy Sehun’s face darkening.

“Ok, boys, that’s enough – I still need to clean you up and get to bed, Jihun.” You say, not addressing the problem. You aren’t paid enough.

“First,” starts Sehun and he ignores you pleadingly calling his name, “I don’t have Changmi. Second, I will not let Φ run you a bath, buddy.”

You roll your eyes, but Sehun is already behind you pulling Jihun from your arms. Your muscles are thankful, but it’s quite ridiculous.

“Sehun, please, he is just a kid,” you try to reason, because how stupid it is for Sehun to get jealous of Jihun. Because you consider it being jealous.

“I’m not a kid!” Argues Jihun, and Sehun just looks at you with eyes that tell you _point proven_. They still bicker when Sehun takes him to the upstairs bathroom and you are left to your own devices.

You go down and you sit on the couch wondering why it seemed so _cozy._ Sehun bickering with Jihun and Sehun being territorial – you can’t help it, but enjoy it both. And he said that _he doesn’t have Changmi_.

You don’t know how long it takes Sehun to come down, but his voice still startles you.

“We’ve got a deal,” he says and you look around. “Jihun agreed that the best course of action would be letting you choose.”

You notice that now he has his sleeves rolled up and that his hair is mussed – residues of him taking care of his brother. You can even notice that his fingertips are still wrinkled from water and there are wet patches on his shirt. But he is standing tall and there is a smile dancing on his lips, one you cannot express how much you love.

You bite your lip, to hold back your own smile.

“Letting me choose?”

“Yeah. Which one of us do you prefer.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you propositioning me?” You ask, just to make sure. Sehun shifts on his legs, sporting a smile you could call self-depreciating. You look at your nails, playing coy. “Because Jihun did it quite clearly and unabashedly.”

“Well, he is five years old. I can’t win with his recklessness,” says Sehun, and then adds as an afterthought: “and cuteness.”

“That is certainly true,” you agree, not offering more than that. Hell, he was pretty straightforward during all those weeks when he threw bad lines at you, and now he is shy? You are certainly not going to do his work for him. You did enough. “And just like Jihun said, you are always mean to me.”

“I can’t really help it,” says Sehun and you hear him getting closer. He sits down on the other end of the couch. You observe him, but you try to play it off indifferently. “Because I know that you thoroughly enjoy it.”

You consider it for a second, yes, you enjoy it, thank you very much.

“Guilty as charged.”

“And I know that I can give you something Jihun can’t.”

“And that is?” It’s so stupid and yet so thrilling. Both of you _know_ that by now you are basically a pair. There is no Changmi in the picture, and Jihun certainly never was, but it’s both of you enjoying the game. Especially when you are high on the knowledge that anytime you can break it and just touch him, hug him, maybe even _kiss_ him.

Sehun waits until your eyes are on him and smiles at you lazily, motioning to himself.

“This body.”

It takes all your strength not to laugh.

“Hm… Give it 12 years and I am sure Jihun will look _at least similar,”_ you say dismissively.  Only now you notice that Sehun slid down the couch – not far by any means, but he is closer to you than a minute ago. You can feel skin on your head and shoulders tingling. “And I could raise Jihun anyway I want.”

“I can’t beat that,” admits Sehun, shaking his head.

“No, you can’t,” you say, feeling breathless. Sehun is right next to you, leg nearly pushing against yours, he is so close you can feel his warmth even through a double layer of clothes. His hands are clasped together, wiry wrists on display. He is breaking rules of the game, but you can’t blame him, you want him to break it even further.

“No, I can’t,” he repeats in low voice and finally turns to you. You are ready for everything and anything, but before anything can happen you hear the front door open and close. You jump to your feet, remembering that you are at work and you are not being paid to flirt with your employer’s son.

So you leave Sehun in the living room to greet his parents in the hallway, as per usual.

*

It didn’t go exactly as planned. You enjoyed your push and pull in the living room, but you’ve never expected for it to finish just like that – without any substantial promise uttered between you. You don’t really fret about that, because you are sure that such promise will fall, and the wait only will make it sweeter in the end.

But it doesn’t mean you are _not_ surprised when Sehun comes to you during lunch. He has his tray in his hands, still filled with food.

“Hi, girls,” he greets Eunmi and Mira, who look at him in silence. “Would you mind I sat here?”

Your friends look at you, but you can only see Sehun who looks as dashing as always.

“Well, I would mind,” you say and both of your friends look at you with badly masked astonishment. Sehun only smiles as if it was an inside joke, and it is. “That’s what friends do.”

“Bullshit,” laughs Sehun, but walks away. You can’t help yourself and you look after him as he walks to his table – even his backside is a sight to behold. He sits down at his table and he immediately gets attacked with questions by his teammates, but he still sends you a glance, and upon seeing you looking at him, he arches his eyebrow at you. You smile.

“Ok, talk,” orders Mira and you just shrug.

“Nothing to talk about, really,” you say and they both look at you with disbelief. You shrug again. “It’s just his brother proposed to me yesterday.”

“In Sehun’s turn?”

“No, actually, Jihun wants to marry me.”

“Well, that is awkward.”

“Tell me about it,” you laugh, and glance one more time at Sehun’s table. He is looking at you.

 _Good_. _He should._

_*_

Just before your last class of the day, you are walking by Sehun’s locker. This isn’t the easiest way to get to your classroom, but after lunch, you haven’t seen him and you really _want_ to. You are in luck because he is rummaging in his locker and you get a flashback of him kissing Changmi – and you don’t like it.

Maybe that’s why you playfully push your finger in his ribs in passing. You are breaking the rules, you know that, but at the same time, you are convinced he deserves some kind of punishment.

Surprised grunt is pretty satisfying.

You’ve already walked past him, so you glance playfully over your shoulder to see Sehun looking for the perpetrator. He squares onto you, eyebrows high and you just smile, before turning around and making a point of throwing your hair over your shoulder. You are just next to basement staircase when you can feel long fingers close on your wrist.

It’s a very serious breach of the rules, but you go willingly when Sehun leads you down, to the midsection, into the shadows. His hand is still clasped around your wrist when you stop.

“So, have you decided yet?” He asks and you can’t help but smile. Of course, you’ve decided. You’ve decided even before he asked you that question yesterday.

“I am on the crossroads, really. But you could help me out? Try pitching yourself,” you say and it’s a joke. It’s a teasing joke and the last thing you expect is for Sehun to turn serious.

“I like you. I like watching you. I like when you smile and when you laugh, and when you run around with Jihun. I adore the little wrinkles around your eyes forming when you smile warmly. I just… I don’t know, but I like you.” He looks so earnest and you can’t find it in yourself to tease him still. There is warmth on your cheeks and it’s not from embarrassment.

You look down (bashfully) and you ease your arm out of his hold, but it’s only so you can grab his hand. When you look up, Sehun’s eyes are shining. You like when they do, when you can see positive feelings in his irises, just like now.

“Yeah, you’ve convinced me,” you manage to say through a bundle of emotions pooling in your gut. “It’s you who I want.”

It sounds so… Adult. _Want_. It’s such a strong word. You are not sure why you used that one, but you can’t take it back and Sehun doesn’t seem like he minds.

“Are you sure?” He asks with badly veiled excitement. “Because there will be no take-backs.”

You laugh as you move your hand to entwine your fingers with him. A smile breaks out on Sehun’s face.

“I can’t live with that.” God, you are so happy. You couldn’t explain it even if you tried, just looking at his face, just as bright and as happy as you feel makes you all giddy and helpless with your excitement.

Sehun doesn’t answer and uses your entwined hands to bring you closer. Then he carefully proceeds to hug you. He is slow as if he was giving you time to back out, but would you? You go into the hug with all the _umpf_. You throw your arms on his neck, your torso pushing against his. With consent explicit in your actions, Sehun’s arms confidently cross on your back, bringing you to flush against him. He straightens forcing you to go onto your tiptoes. You love the fact that you are as high as you can get, but he is still slightly bending down. He is warm, familiar and he smells great. You don’t even think about it, but you turn your face to his neck so you can smell his skin. You are so happy you are on the verge of exploding.

“That’s what couples do?” Asks Sehun after a moment of silence, and you laugh again.

“Yes, that’s what couples do,” you agree and Sehun straightens all the way up, supporting you. You yelp when your feet dangle in the air. Your _giant_.

He puts you down when the bell rings.

“What do you have now?” He asks casually, letting go of you. You immediately miss him, but he confidently grabs your hand. It’s so easy to fall in step with him as you walk up the stairs.

“Maths,” you answer, focusing on how it feels to have your hand in his, “in 1.12.”

“I’ll walk you there,” he says and you bite the inside of your cheek. You really like that. The hallway is emptying as he walks you upstairs and to your classroom.

“What do you have now?” You ask, even though you certainly don’t care that you are both late. Hell, if he asked you’d be ready to skip the class.

“History,” he says with a shrug. “By the way, are you free today?”

Your heart does a somersault. You have to start thinking about writing Sehun into your daily schedule. And you don’t think it’s going to be a problem.

You shake your head.

“No, I have work today.” You say glancing at him. You bite your lip as you wait for him to get it.

“Oh,” he exhales disappointed. You hold your breath, _Sehun, c’mon_. You see the exact moment when he realizes. “ _Oh_.”

“So, I guess see you later?” You say with a laugh because you can see the door to your classroom.

“Certainly.”

*

Weirdly, you couldn’t wait for everything to be over. As much as you enjoy your practice, for the first time in your high school career, you were first one out the doors when coach whistled the end of training. Only shower slowed you down because you wouldn’t want to arrive at Ohs smelling of your practice.

Not ever, especially not now.

Sehun is waiting outside. He looks so good sprawled on steps in front of his house, basking in the sun with his eyes closed. He also looks very comfortable. You don’t alarm him of your presence, you just let your bag fall to the ground and you sit down next to him.

He cracks one eye open and smiles.

“Hello, hello,” he muses and you can only match his smile. _So good_. He shifts slightly and now his arm is resting on the step on your other side and you don’t hesitate and lean back against his shoulder. “How was track?”

“Good. You?”

“Passable. I bruised my elbow, but except that, everything is good.” That alarms you and you grab his arm to check the damage. You get the right elbow at your first try and sure enough, skin is slightly purple and red from abrasion. “Well, now it’s perfect.”

You look up because the last line confuses you. Sehun just raises his eyebrows at you and you get it – he is talking about you. You blush and smile.

“Well, you’ve promised me your body, don’t go around damaging my goods,” you joke and Sehun smiles lightly, only one corner of his mouth moving up. You realize he is looking at your mouth. _Yes, please, do kiss me._

You hear engine sounds and even as you inwardly curse, you look away from Sehun to see the familiar bus.

Jihun is home and it’s time to work. You stand up, hearing annoyed huff behind you and even though you match the sentiment, it also makes you smile.

“Jihun!” You call when you see him hop down the bus stairs. His little face lights up when he sees you, and waves, calling your name back. You greet the kindergarten teacher and you look down to Jihun.

Who is no longer happy.

His face is all gloomy and he looks like he is on the verge of throwing a tantrum, and he is staring at Sehun.

 _Oh, boy_.

“I don’t want _him_ here,” he cries out, face getting red. He grabs your hand and yanks it, and you turn to Sehun who is feigning innocence. You bite back a groan. Did Jihun _really_ agree? “He is going to be mean to you!”

Such a sweet child. You send Sehun an annoyed glance.

“No, he won’t,” you say with all the conviction and Jihun zeroes on your face.

“Yes, I will,” comes from the porch. “And we will both enjoy it.”

 _Don’t be a dick_ , you mouth over Jihun’s head, nearly shooting lasers out of your eyes. Sehun shrugs, but it’s already too late.

Jihun’s tantrum lasts nearly two hours. You have to admit, it’s magnificent. You are amazed by his coherency, ability to speak on the inhale, focus. Sehun escapes after first 10 minutes and you are really going to nail his sorry ass. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. You were supposed to spend a nice afternoon with your _new boyfriend_ , paying some attention to Jihun _and_ earning money for doing nearly nothing. But you really earned your wage. The only good thing that came out of this storm was the fact that Jihun literally cried himself to sleep. He was so tired after working himself up and keeping it for such a long time that he nearly passed out on his way upstairs.

Which allows you to storm Sehun’s room.

He is both surprised and delighted when you walk into his bedroom (without having enough decency to knock).

“I could have been doing naughty things here,” he says and you shrug.

“With your young brother crying downstairs? Wouldn’t you consider it a tear-jerker?”

He cracks a smile.

“I saw it on tumblr,” he says and you shrug again. Why do people _have_ to point out that they’ve already seen that meme? Killjoys, for real. “But welcome to my crib.”

You look around. Except for having, what you consider, an “adult bed” (not pushed under the wall, but standing proudly in the middle of the room), his room is everything you could have imagined. Wardrobe, desk, computer, comic books, volleyball stuff, posters.

You rub your face and hang your head.

“I am tired,” you say and he is out of his swivel chair in a second. Another second and you are enjoying his familiar embrace.

“Sorry about the tantrum,” he says quite sheepishly.

“He has never agreed to such a deal, has he?” You mumble into his shirt. Sehun rocks on his heels and you close your eyes – it’s good.

“No, he didn’t,” he admits, again, sheepishly.

The groan, that you hear when you drive your fingers in his ribs, is thoroughly satisfying.


End file.
